A fun camping weekend

The big boys were at a sleepover, so we had fun with just Luke and Lily :)

Our sweet neighbor Steve found a turtle trying to cross the road last week.  He brought it home, thinking of the boys!  The kids and I weren't home, so Justin put it in their red wagon and he escaped :(  Yesterday, he came back with another one!  We put him in the baby pool and watched him and played with him for a while, but we could tell he hated it!   Steve made the kids shake on it that they would let him go after 3 days :)  We ended up letting him go that night, and boy was he happy!!!  The closer we got to the water, his little legs moved faster and faster! It was pretty cute.  

As we were walking away, Gabe said (word for word) "I sure am gonna miss that little fella" :)

And a few more from my birthday, courtesy of Shannon :)

A fun Saturday night

Jon & Shannon came over and hung out for dinner.  It was a wonderful time, as always.  They asked to take the two big boys home for a sleepover.  Isaiah and Gabe were thrilled!!!  "BYE MOM!!!" as they ran out the door ;)  Here's Isaiah goofing around all excited about the sleepover.

Fun just hanging out with these two little ones :)  It's always interesting to watch how they behave when the dynamics change...  These two LOVE their big bros, but EAT UP the extra attention when they're gone :)

Forgot to post these from my birthday lunch at Nana's with the cousins

Sweet brother Isaiah giving Sissy a ride

The girls :)

Jordan is so sweet with Lily.  She just loves having another girl around.  Every time we get together, Jordan shows us with some token to give Lily, be it a toy, a bracelet, clothes... it is absolutely precious...  Here Jordan is pulling her American Girl doll Molly, and her real-life doll Lily ;)

 Who doesn't love a good puddle...

Lightening McQueen himself!

 My birthday present!  MULCH!!!

Boys love dirt.  Period.

One of the kids took this one while I was spreading mulch.  I love it...

I filled up the baby pool and gave them a bar of soap... they were covered in mulch!

A peek at the progress :)

SO much better than weeds and ugly red dirt!

My peaceful, happy place :)

A happy birthday, it was...

Sorry if you've had any problems... I tried to check my blog tonight and got an alert that my background from ShabbyBlogs had been hacked.  So, I found another sight for backgrounds... 

Lily asked that I share a tutorial on the benefits of yogurt for the skin...

as seen here

 here

 here

 and here...  any questions???

 Oh, and always go back for more, you can never have too much...

Today, we finished Isaiah's end of grade testing!  Big sigh of relief!  I've learned a lot my first year as a teacher.  I've made lots of mistakes with my little guinea pigs, but one thing I'm sure of:  my children are closer than ever before.  As a homeschooling family, my goal is certainly to challenge each individual child in ways unique to their needs, and to find and nurture their gifts... but, the thing I cherish most is watching them just be friends.  So far: mission accomplished :)

Excited as I start planning for next year...

so thankful that I get to do this...

Beautiful day at the Asheboro Zoo

Monday, we enjoyed a field trip to the zoo in Asheboro.  It's always a fun time :)  This time, we went with my two sister-in-laws, Meagan and Shannon, and my mother-in-law Anne.  The cousins had a great time running around together!  I love that my kid's best friends are family.  

POOPED!!!